Description:LEO is a performing laboratory for all things now and current in electronically influenced music, drawing inspiration from a history rich in electronic audio experimentation and pushing the stylistic thresholds of music. We will build on a hundred-year marriage between electronics and sound that began with the first cross-continental transmission of speech in 1915. Our sources of inspiration will start with pioneers of electronic music such as John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Feldman, and Pierre Schaeffer’s Musique concrète. We will explore the next wave of innovation: the disco revolution and the club DJ, Kraftwerk, rap, the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, house, hip hop and the techno explosion. And we will build on the most recent developments in the rapidly accelerating history of electronic music, including the birth of “the remix artist” and the hybrid styles that followed: drum ‘n’ bass, ambient, downtempo, acid jazz, “reverse engineered” live d’n’b, nu jazz, jungle, dubstep, etc. The “Live” Electronica Orchestra is open to all instrumentalists. The ensemble will utilize various sound manipulation effects such as ring-modulators, octavers, low-pass filters, delays, etc. We will place a strong emphasis on performing with a “sound-design” mentality; establishing cuing systems; developing clear A/B/C sections for live-ensemble, “through-composed” improvisation; and using electronic effects and amps as instruments. Extreme tempos, unorthodox techniques, and advanced forms and rhythms will further enrich our compositional toolkit as we lead the next wave of electronically influenced music and create the soundtrack of tomorrow.